Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the loss to the Saints:
On moving forward. "That's very difficult. Obviously, we're disappointed with how the game shaped up tonight, but when you turn the football over four times against a really good football team that's playing with a lot of momentum, that's too much to overcome. We need to be better than that as we move forward. We've (got) an extended weekend here to get some rest, but to also take a look in the mirror and to find ways that we all can be better. That's what we need to do."
On whether he saw the safety coming on his fumble. "I have to take a look at it. I don't know where it got tipped from. I can give you a better answer after I've had opportunity to look at it."
On the turnovers. "I don't know where it came from. That hasn't been our style up to this point. A credit to New Orleans. They did a good job of taking it away. We've got to be better than that offensively. We had the opportunity to come away with a lot more points than we did tonight. When you give them the football in the low red (zone), it's tough to overcome."
On moving on from the loss. "I think the mindset after tonight with the long weekend is for each of us, individually to take a look in the mirror to see what we have got to do better to help our team play better than we have up until this point. That's what I'm going to do. Then when we get back to work on Monday. It's about going out and having the best Monday practice that we can have. To make it any more long- sighted than that, you can't do that as an athlete. You have to stay present in the moment. That's what my message will be to those guys."
On what the message to the players hanging their heads, specifically Calvin Ridley after his fumble: "I did not really say anything. We got the ball back pretty quickly after him – after that on the sidelines. I'll have an opportunity to sit down with him. One thing that I have learned in playing for as long as I have, is sometimes those things are going to happen. You're going to have nights like tonight. But what makes you a great professional is how you're going to respond to nights like tonight and how your process, getting yourself ready to go during the week is, you know, better after having an outing like that. That's what would be my message is to him. It's about controlling what you can control and getting yourself prepared and doing all the things you can so that when you're in that situation again, the result the outcome is different."
About the Author
